Reid again called on Republicans to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling and pledged Democrats would then negotiate with them.

“We’ll have a conversation with them about anything. Open the government, let us pay our bills,” he said Thursday morning on the Senate floor.

Even if House Republicans pass a clean short-term debt-limit increase, one without spending cuts attached, Senate Democrats might balk if it leaves important federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency mostly shuttered.

Reid said he would proceed with his plan to push the expiration of the debt limit until Dec. 31, 2014. He has scheduled a Saturday vote on a motion to proceed to the 14-month debt-limit extension. It would, in effect, allow the administration to increase its borrowing authority by an estimated $1.1 trillion.

“The majority leader introduced legislation this week to allow another trillion dollars to be added to the debt with no strings attached. None,” he said. “That’s the majority leader’s plan: just keep raising the credit card limit, and let someone else deal with it later on.”